Sweet Dreams
by Blade of Justice
Summary: Before the Seven Sages rose to power, before Neptune fell from the sky, and even before Iris Heart was born and Planeptune itself came to be... There were two little girls with the whole wide world against them.
1. Chapter 1

Work work work. So much work.

Today was turning out to be an especially busy day for Noire. It was a good thing that she wasn't at Planeptune right now, otherwise there was no way she'd be getting any of this done. It wasn't like she had exactly been _invited_ either, but deep down, she knew that if she really, _really_ wanted to, she and Plutia had given each other unspoken permission to come over whenever they wanted. It was something she certainly abused on occasion, though usually it was more to help Plutia and Neptune out than for anything personal... And Plutia, being Plutia, never seemed to be willing to put out the effort to come to her outside of a very select few occasions, which would have been _fine_, but... She just wished Plutia would stop bringing _Neptune_ along, even if it was just _once_ in a while... How many years had gone by since they'd done something together, just the two of them?

It had been since before Noire had been a CPU... No, even before that. It had been before Neptune had come to their dimension. _Years _ago.

Scowling, the black haired CPU dismissed those thoughts. It was for the best. Plutia, ultimately, would still just be another distraction, and while Plutia was a welcome distraction, unlike most other ones distractions, she was still a distraction all the same. She had a _lot_ more work to do if she wanted to be able to leave the Basilicom and have a nice lunch today before she came back to working, and she really, _really_ wanted to have something more than a few rushed sandwiches to keep her going. Yes, she was not going to soon forget her previous night's dinner, but in the end, she still needed to get done what she needed to get done.

As the old saying went, no rest for the weary.

... Boy, was she feeling _weary_ though...

The young CPU shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She couldn't let it get to her! Lastation was on top for a _reason_ right now, and that reason's name was Noire. If she wanted to have that lunch, then she was going to just have to suck it up and stop hoping Planeptune's CPU would barge into her office and give her something else to think about for the first time in weeks!

"Nooooiiiiiiire! Come out and plaaaaay!"

Were she the kind of person who did that sort of thing over small disappointments, Noire could have burst into tears at the sound of the singsong voice approaching from the hallway just outside her office. From the accompanying sounds of footsteps, it sounded like the voice's owner was alone, which meant that while Noire _had_ gotten Planeptune's CPU... She had gotten the wrong one.

"Go away Neptune! I'm very busy!" Even less in the mood for Neptune's shenanigans than she might normally be, Noire made a point to be buried in her paperwork when the smaller CPU finally entered her office.

Sighing in a fashion that was far more dramatic than the situation required, Neptune turned and walked out of Noire's office, which brought Noire to let out a sigh of relief in turn. Maybe she could still make that lunch yet...

"So anyway, how about now? Wanna play?"

"Kya!"

Or at least she _would_ have if Neptune hadn't suddenly popped up from the other side of her desk! How had she even done that!? Noire wanted an instant replay right this instant!

"N-Neptune..." Clenching the sides of her desk, Noire stood up and glowered at the purple haired CPU. How such a lazybones was a CPU in any world was beyond her, but the fact that she was the _only_ one somewhere was just... _insane_. It had to be Nepgear doing all of the work back where they were from. It just had to be. "Get out of here before I make you get out of here."

"Awww, don't be like that! Can't a gal come over and see the evil clone of one of her bestest friends?" Neptune fluttered her eyelashes innocently, but the comment had pushed too many buttons for Noire for her to consider whatever Neptune wanted at this point... N-Not that she would have anyway or anything! She had work to do, after all. Seeing the look on Noire's face, Neptune finally seemed to get the message, for she actually seemed to visibly deflate. It was almost funny. "Sheesh, no wonder you don't have any friends... Stuck up in here all day doing nothing, that's no fun.

"I have plenty of friends!" Noire cried out instinctively, the words coming unbidden — through habit, perhaps. Neptune certainly did throw the rude accusation around enough for it to become one. Looking at Neptune, who was starting to grin at her, Noire found her cheeks starting to burn. In an effort to save her pride from its untimely demise, Noire lowered herself back into her seat and nodded towards the door. "Go on..." ... On the other hand, if Neptune was already here... She was no Plutia, but even Noire had her limits. "... a-and if you can stop yourself from pigging out beforehand, if you're at the Crash Cafe in an hour, _maybe_ I'll join you for lunch." Seeing the look Neptune was starting to get in her eyes, Noire narrowed her own in warning. "I said maybe!"

Appearing like she had gotten what she had wanted, Neptune turned to leave... again, so this time, Noire made sure not to make any assumptions. Like clockwork, she didn't even make it to the door before she turned around. Noire was about to tell her lunch was off, but Neptune's expression stopped her. It was oddly... thoughtful looking.

"You ever think about why Plutie is so good with kids? Maybe she's just got some super inner mom thing in there, but I dunno... Iffy — um, uh, not Iffy! I mean, a friend of mine back home says _I_ am because I _am_ one, and I'm pretty sure I remember you saying it too come to think of it, which is _totally_ ridiculous for a sophisticated lady like me, but..." Despite how it seemed like it probably would be in her best interest to do so, Noire chose not to interrupt Neptune. If this was her one semi-intelligent statement of the year, it wouldn't be fair of her to shut Neptune down, and this actually didn't sound that bad yet. Plus it was about Plutia, so Noire was obligated to find out what sort of ridiculous things Neptune was thinking about her. "Blanc's old, right?"

Noire blinked.

"That's a random topic change." Maybe she had given Neptune too much credit here. Rolling her eyes, Noire leaned her elbow on her desk to rest her face on the back of her hand. She was starting to suspect where Neptune was taking this, and if she was right, lunch was _definitely_ off... Though considering she wasn't getting any work done now, it probably would end up having to be put off anyway. Thanks, Neptune. "But... Yes, Lowee's been around since before I was born, so Blanc is 'old'. I suppose you're even older than that, right Miss 'Real' Goddess?"

"Huh? No waaaay, I'm a regular spring chicken here! A pure maiden, fresh off the tree and ready for love!" Given the initially surprised reaction Neptune showed her, followed by a recovery like that, Noire supposed she had been wrong after all — she had thought Neptune was going to pull some kind of "I am older and wiser than you" schtick. Well, that didn't mean what she was going to say instead still wouldn't be stupid. "I've just been wondering about it is all... That's a pretty big difference, at least right now, huh? It won't seem like it later on, but she's got a lot on you."

"Did Blanc put you up to this, Neptune?" Noire asked flatly, closing her eyes as she tried to imagine where Neptune could possibly be going with this, but all roads ended in some kind of backhanded (and stupid, don't forget stupid) insult.

"_No_, Blanc has nothing to do with this. Sheesh, Noire, don't be so paranoid!" Noire didn't need to open her eyes to know Neptune was in some kind of stupid pose, probably making some kind of stupid face right now. Gritting her teeth, she let out a low growl, to which Neptune responded with an "eep!" of sorts. "Okay, okay! We never get to see you, sue me for making small talk. What I really wanted to ask was about Plutie and you."

And her? Well, that explains it. This was all probably some sort of convoluted buildup to a lame joke then. Might as well get it over with...

"And me?"

"Well, Plutie only became a CPU a little while before I got here, right? So even though she tries to act like a super-mom, which is actually super-_creepy_ since she's even like that when she transforms, she's barely old enough to _be_ a mom." Noire's brows furrowed at this line of thought. Neptune _had_ been thinking. That... wasn't a good sign. Was it because of the kids they were taking care of at the Basilicom? Better there than stuck in the harsh world outside of the nations' borders, of course, and certainly better under the watchful eye of Iris Heart than of some sleaze running some rundown place to get money for the kids they would never use for them. Still... "You were a regular girl when I got here, right? I was even turned into one for a little while! Oh, right. Woopsie, got distracted. What I mean is, I know Blanc probably doesn't anymore since she's old, shouldn't you and Plutie, like... have families and stuff?"

"Surprised" didn't really cover what Noire was feeling in that moment. She had never expected Neptune to go _there _with her. Then again, the fact Neptune had reached out to her on a whim, out of some strange sense of homesickness, should have been her first clue that the girl was in a weird mood today. Noire really couldn't think about it right now. Or anything, for that matter, because she was _shocked_ to have that question thrown on it. She was so surprised, in fact, her arm slipped — meaning she was now falling face first towards her desk at a ridiculously high velocity. Ridiculously high for sensitive places like heads, anyway.

It would figure that the last thing Noire managed to think clearly before the world was consumed with darkness was that _really_ wished Neptune had just been going for a stupid joke.

* * *

Before the establishment of Planeptune, the only nation that had existed throughout the entirety of Gamindustri for many, many years was Lowee up in the north. The long standing nation was powerful, certainly, and it was more than a little prideful about letting people know it. However, even with that as it was, it could hardly account for the entire land. Gamindustri was a vast place, and Lowee had enough to deal with within its own borders, after all. Its CPU could hardly concern herself with the people who were in all of the lands unassociated with Lowee when the people in it needed her much more. At most, there were missionaries, and their concerns were typically either furthering Lowee's reign or using the power that position granted them as they saw fit. In the end, the people within Lowee's borders were the ones who got the most out of their CPU.

Unfortunately for those people who were _not_ so fortunate as to be within those borders, that didn't mean much for them. Most of them lacked the means to make the trip all the way to Lowee, and typically, most of those that did would quickly find those means being taken from them by looters and pirates and the like. Needless to say, this meant that it was not the ideal situation in which a parent might wish to bring a child into the world, but life goes on, and thus, children would continue to be born as well. More often than not, children would be taken to shelters and orphanages when parents found themselves at the end of their ropes, down on their luck, hoping that at the very least, their child might still be able to survive in this lawless wasteland through the care of another.

Today was a day that was no different. Today was a day in which a fresh batch of fresh eyes were bring corralled around like little animals. Today was a day during which, among those "little animals," a young girl, barely seven or eight years old with messy, unkempt black hair cropped this way and that way, found herself being taken to one such orphanage. Some might have felt pity for the girl, with her tattered clothes and worn looking body, but they would be wise not to. This girl was no stranger to this type of situation at all. While the other children in her group were looking around for friendly faces and checking out what kind of food they might be getting, the only thing _this_ child was looking for, with her sharp red eyes, were which kids she would be able to get the most out of before she got shipped off to the next place for bad behavior.

You see, this girl didn't play nice. She played for keeps. She played to win. She played for herself.

It was all she knew.

This girl's name was Noire.

And today was the day that Noire would meet the girl that would change her life.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Noire to figure out what her new situation was going to be like. Her last one hadn't been particularly _un_pleasant, but she hadn't exactly been easy to handle for the evangelist or missionary or whatever the guy had been (Noire was too young to keep the different words those _Lowee_ people used for themselves straight, especially when she didn't particularly care what they called themselves anyway) that had been keeping that shelter going, and the man had apparently decided Noire was better off being dumped at an abandoned temple and being told to wait there like she was a dog. Maybe, as far as the world was concerned, that was all she was. The situation before that had been definitely unpleasant, though, so she was hopeful that this one would be more like the more recent of the two... Given how often she changed from place to place, she supposed it didn't matter all that much.

The "orphanage" that she found herself being herded around now was definitely not one of the nicest places she had ever been to in her short life. It was dirty looking. though to be fair Noire had never seen too many things that weren't at least a _little_ dirty. This place was exceptionally so, however, and thus it still stood out to her how unclean it was, even with how little she had ever experienced "clean" places and things. Most of the rooms were falling apart, the furniture looked like it had seen better days, and the grown ups looked like they'd rather be at home playing a game than near any of the kids that they were supposed to be taking care of. Of course, Noire was used to seeing that sort of thing, so that much didn't phase her as much as it was simply something to make note of — it was something she could use to her advantage if need be.

The one plus, though, and the one thing that Noire found that _did_ impress her, was that it was the _biggest_ place she had ever seen in her life.

As relatively jaded as the girl was, she couldn't help but be drawn in by how _big_ the building was. Never in her entire life had she seen such a building. It had _actual hallways_, a row of rooms _just_ for the kids (Noire had _never_ slept in a room with less than four other girls or boys before), and rooms for doing things Noire had never even heard of before. It even had a second floor! While most of the rooms still looked like they could fall apart at any moment, and while the person guiding her around had made it clear that most of it was off limits to the kids, especially the kids her age, this difference in size gave Noire a look at something that she had never known before.

The world was bigger than broken down buildings and sleazy adults and getting beaten up and an empty stomach.

For something like this to exist, there was more out there — there _had_ to be — and Noire wanted in.

At long last, her "tour" of the facility finally finished. Once again, Noire found herself and the rest of the children in her group standing outside in what she supposed was meant to be the playground for the children, but it wasn't all that much. Noire didn't particularly care about playing anyway, at least not for her own sake. Playing meant working up an appetite and working down her energy — a combination that Noire had learned the hard way went terribly together. If she observed which children were the most comfortable, the ones that were "playing" the most, then those were probably her tickets to extra bites of food and favors when she needed them. Those were the ones that Noire would "play" with.

"M-Miss... I'm hungry... May I eat early?"

Noire perked up at the sound. One of her fellow newcomers, an especially scraggy looking child, had spoken up about the thing that had been on her mind from the moment she had arrived — the thing that was, really, _always_ on her mind. It was likely on the mind of every child in their little group.

_Food_.

The girl who had spoken up was the picture of pathetic. Her clothes were even more raggedy than Noire's were and she had been trailing behind the group the entire time due to a noticeable limp. No one had said anything. It must have been too much for her stomach, for her tiny, hurting body, to handle.

How the adults reacted to this would leave an impact. Most of the children, particularly the ones who had been bouncing around for a long time like Noire, understood this. It would tell them how far they could go, how much they could do, what they could and couldn't get away with. This simple moment was going to set the foundations for all of them — the smart ones, anyway. Obviously the girl who asked wasn't very experienced, or she would have known to _never_ ask something like that, no matter _how_ hungry she was, but Noire couldn't feel pity — she had learned her lesson, and it was a lesson she still remembered well. Now it was the girl's turn.

All eyes were trained on the girl and the adult she had asked. The adult peered down at the girl, who flinched just from the harsh look she had received from the woman. She had looked like she was ready to cry before she had asked, probably from whatever pain had been forcing her to limp for so long, now she looked like she would start the water works any second now.

"You deaf, kid? I told you when dinner was. You got here too late for lunch, so you hafta wait."

The other children lowered their heads. They were disappointed. If the woman had offered the girl food, it meant that the woman was the type who gave in to that sort of thing — the type that they could maybe get second helpings out of. Noire simply shook her head. She hadn't expected much better. It was better than she had gotten when she had tried something similar. She didn't know what this girl's situation was, but Noire hadn't eaten since the day before she had gotten dumped into that temple and _she_ wasn't complaining. Surely the girl could handle a little more...

"B-But... I don't think I can... Please... I'm so hungry... P-Please..."

Noire had to fight back a gasp — for doing something like that would undoubtedly draw attention from the adult or the other children towards her. Didn't this girl understand her situation? How could she have done something so foolish? Worse, now she was crying! Everyone would know she was weak, that she was easy prey for other children! Of course, Noire was among those children, admittedly, but...

"Y'don't think you can...? Well, if that's so, it can't be helped, huh?" The woman sounded like she was giving in. The more innocent children of the group exchanged hopeful looks, relieved looks. It sounded like she was going to give the girl food! Maybe if they asked too, then they would be able to get food too...! Dinner was _so far away_, after all...!

Noire was not among the children exchanging hopeful, excited looks. Desperate looks. Noire had seen this before... No, that wasn't it. Noire had made that mistake before. It was a mistake she had sworn to never make again. There was always a chance that it would work out differently for the girl, especially given how obvious it was that there was something wrong with her, but if Noire knew adults at all, then...

There it was. That expression. It was the same no matter how many times Noire saw it. The woman's face... It wasn't the face of someone who was about to give a child food.

It was the face of someone who was getting ready to squash an insect.

Before she realized it, Noire was moving. She didn't know why. She knew every reason why she shouldn't, though. She knew she shouldn't, but here she was, doing it all the same. As the woman lifted her leg, about to make the impact on the children that none of them had expected, Noire found herself tackling the injured, hungry, crying little girl to the ground, shielding her with the only thing she had: her own body. All in a swift movement, Noire had gone from the nonchalant observer to the sacrificial lamb.

She screamed when the boot made impact with her side. The woman hadn't been holding back, or if she had been, she had still meant to use a lot of force.

"You got a little friend? Huh? You think you can have a little rebellion here? Fine! Then both! Of you! Don't! Get! Food! For! Three! Days!"

With each of the woman's exclamations, Noire found the boot crashing into her again and again. She knew better than to ask the other children for help — this was her own fault, after all. She should have stayed out of it. She knew what had been about to happen. If only she had stayed out of it, then maybe...

After that, Noire didn't know. The world faded away, sucked up by pain and the weakness she had already been feeling from the lack of food.

At least here, in the darkness, Noire could be at peace for a little while.

* * *

Noire didn't need to open her eyes to know she hadn't been brought to a room. That would have been expecting too much anyway. She felt dirt beneath her. Such a familiar feeling... Blinking back tears, she opened her eyes. Sure enough, she was propped against the side of the building. She could feel that her side had been bandaged... She didn't want to know how it looked underneath. Someone had probably given her a healing item — even more reason for the adults to be angry with her, making them waste such a thing. Despite that, the pain she felt was terrible, but worse was the knowledge that with it came _days_ without a chance to put something in her belly. She had given herself a bad reputation with the adults now... They knew what to expect should she want to make trouble, should she want to make them get rid of her... It would be that much harder to leave, to make them send her away, and start over somewhere else.

She would have cried herself if she didn't know that that would just make it worse. The adults would think they had won, the other kids would see her as weak and easy to manipulate... She was becoming exactly the kind of person that the others would target. A person who sacrificed for others, a crybaby that couldn't hold it together... She almost wished she was back in that lonely temple, lying on the cold floor and listening to monsters go by, praying they wouldn't barge in and eat her. At least monsters weren't as scary as adults.

She had messed up. She had messed up really bad.

The black haired girl clenched her fists, forcing herself to her feet. She wanted to scream. Everything had been ruined. All because she hadn't been able to control herself. She had done something for some kid she didn't know who had deserved the beating in the first place, and now everything about her ached and felt terrible. She felt like it would almost be worth it to curl up into a ball and cry after all, just to be able to do it. It had been so long since she'd let herself have that relief that another lost meal on top of the three she had already given up that it almost felt like it would be worth it...

But nothing was worth even more food lost. She couldn't do that to herself. She knew she would regret it. The pain hurt now, the feelings were hurt now, but that would go away. It always did, eventually. Her tummy wouldn't get any fuller because of it though.

At that moment, as if fate itself was descending on her, she realized that the girl who was at the root of all of this was approaching her. For a moment, Noire felt hopeful. Surely, the girl would be appreciative to her. If that was the case... Maybe she could get something out of her. Maybe there was hope yet for her miserable stay at this miserable castle.

How positively naive she was.

"You ruined everything!" To Noire's surprise, the girl she had taken the blunt of the adult's attack for looked angry — angry with her no less. It was an anger that Noire had seen on "playgrounds" time and time again, but to see it from this girl of all people? After what Noire had done for her? It didn't make sense. Comparing the girl she was seeing now to the girl that she had jumped in the way of the adult's attack to protect, it was like night and day. The girl finally made her way over to Noire, her eyes narrowed, and before Noire could protest, she was being grabbed at the collar and shaken. "If _I_ had gotten beaten up, all the other kids would feel bad for me. Now they think you're some 'hero' and aren't even thinking about me! You... You ruined _everything_!"

Noire's eyes widened. The girl wasn't even limping anymore. It... It had looked so real, though...

Both of them were still lacking experience, it seemed. Noire for believing such a performance, the girl for thinking any hungry child in their right mind would care about a hero. If anything, a "hero" was the kind of child that most children in their situation would probably ignore, or worse, they would think that the "hero" was someone they could get something from rather than one they would give something to.

The exact kind of person Noire didn't want to be.

"I hate you!" At least the girl wasn't going to do more to Noire than had already been done to her. Not that she really could. Dropping Noire, the girl simply gave the black haired girl a hateful look — Noire realized that tears were streaming down the girl's face — and she stormed off. Looking around, Noire realized that they were the only ones outside right now, which meant she was probably off to wherever the rest of the kids were... or maybe to her room? As Noire clutched her aching side, she realized that, judging by the way the sky looked, it was probably around dinner time right now.

Right now, the other kids were eating.

Right now, if she hadn't done what she had, _she_ would have been eating.

Noire's lips quivered.

"If... If no one's around, then..."

She didn't manage to get out more than that. Sinking to her knees, the girl hugged her legs as her face contorted, as if she was still trying to fight against what she had already decided she would allow. It was slow, at first, but, with every tear that fell, another pair came after. She collapsed, overwhelmed, as she began to sob — letting out tears that she had had bottled up for longer than she could remember. She cried for the family, if she had even ever had one, that she could no longer remember, the family that had surely been the first people to want to get rid of her. She cried for all of the hungry days and nights she had gone through. She cried for not being so lucky as to have been born in Lowee. She cried for the fact that she wasn't going to get dinner tonight.

Noire dug her fists into the dirt as she cried, feeling ashamed of herself. She had thought she was better than this... She had thought she had grown up and become a big girl... She had thought...

It was like this, in this horrible condition, that she was found. It was like this, in the worst state possible, that she felt a feather-light touch grace her back.

Alarmed, Noire spun around. A bad move, given her injuries, but being seen like this was even worse a fate than any physical pain such an action might cause her.

What she found surprised her. Another girl, probably the same age as Noire, had bent down to touch her. She looked concerned. Genuine concern was something Noire wasn't used to, and it alarmed her all the more. After what had just happened with the other girl, she had even less reason to trust this girl than she might normally — which is to say, she had negative reason to trust this new girl. This "concern" that she saw... There was definitely something behind it. There was a motive. After all, the only concern Noire had ever shown anyone had come with a motive.

The girl seemed to understand this. She leaned backwards and fell onto her behind, letting out a brief "oof" as her rear end made contact with the dirt. Her clothes were baggy, almost like they could fall off of her at any moment, and there was something about her that seemed to put Noire off. Now the two of them, sitting on the ground, were at least on an even playing field, but after what she had seen Noire doing... Surely there was no way she wouldn't think Noire was an easy target.

Thinking quickly, Noire brought her hand to her face and began furiously wiping her eyes with the back of her arm. This had the unfortunate effect of smearing dirt all over her face, which just made what she had been doing all the more obvious. The girl sitting with her seemed to find this amusing, for she laughed at her. Seeing the smears on her arm, Noire could only imagine how pathetic she looked. She was painting even more targets on herself, wasn't she?

"Here..." Noire stared. The girl had reached into her clothes and pulled out a small cloth, and now she was offering it to her. Noire knew better, of course. Taking this would just put her in the girl's debt. It would mean a meal she owed the girl, maybe even more. She had done the same to other children, even those younger than her. She already probably owed the girl a few bites of what meals she _would_ get from now on just to keep her silent about the humiliating state she had found Noire in. Knowing this, Noire simply turned her head, as if refusing the offer with her face. "Huh...? But you're all dirty..."

"I-I don't need your help." Noire knew that the damage had been done, but she couldn't risk it getting any worse. She couldn't- "H-Hey, stop! G-Get offa me!"

Apparently the other girl didn't care about what Noire could or couldn't risk. She had gotten on her hands and knees and closed the distance between the two of them and was now scrubbing away at Noire's face, like she was a little baby or something. Her motions were both gentle and firm, as if she was trying not to hurt Noire but was letting her know how easy it would be for her to do it.

"Sooorryyyy... Not gonna do it..." The girl replied in a sing-song voice. It made Noire angry. Was the girl making fun of her? Was the girl feeling happy knowing how she had just stumbled upon a new gopher? Was that why she could talk like that?

"Why are you doing this...?!" Noire couldn't take it anymore. She would have shoved the girl away if she hadn't pulled away at that moment herself, stuffing the dirty cloth back into her clothes. Noire felt even more frustration as the girl looked her over, a strange smile on her face as she looked Noire up and down. "What's so funny...?!"

The girl tilted her head.

"Nothing..." The girl giggled as she looked at Noire's strained expression, before gently raising a hand to her chin, as if she was considering something. "Weeeell... It's funny that you think something's funny... I think...?"

Noire was sure she was being made fun of now. After how terrible this day had been, this weird girl had to make fun of her on top of it? Noire opened her mouth, prepared to give this girl a talking to, prepared to pull out all the stops to make sure that this girl didn't make her time here any worse than it was already inevitably going to be-

"Oh yeah, here. I forgot... I got this for you... Don't let anybody see it, 'kay? Bye bye..."

Noire blinked as the girl toddled off into the building, waving more cheerfully than Noire found comfortable just before she entered.

She raised a hand to her mouth... or rather, to the large piece of bread that had just been stuffed into it.

What... What had just happened?

Noire shook her head, raising her other hand to the piece of bread so she could clutch it as she ripped off a bite she could actually chew, savoring it far more than she had anticipated she would. As she swallowed her first bite, she let out a shaking sigh of relief. Even this was more than she thought she could have hoped for after what had happened earlier.

She could worry about what had just happened later.

Right now, she just wanted to savor this brief moment of goodness while it lasted.

She had a feeling it wasn't going to last for long.

They never did.


End file.
